001Well, good evening everyone and welcome to Orange County School Board's regular meeting which has been scheduled for today, Tuesday, November 11th, 2025. Thank you all for being with us tonight. no, this is not a throwback to 2021. but I do have a little bit of a cold, so out of respect for my colleagues up here, I am wearing a mask and I forgot how uncomfortable that is and how we all got used to it. But enough of my complaining. as a reminder, board members will not be engaged in outside electronic or digital communication during our meeting so that we can focus our full attention on the matters in front of us and celebrating our great guests here today. to my fellow board members, district staff and anybody else who may be speaking to the board
002or to the public, please make sure that you are very close to your microphone and it's turned on. it's sometimes very hard for it to pick up your voices and we want to make sure that anybody that's tuning in or watches this later on on YouTube has an opportunity to hear what you're saying. So with that, we are going to Oh boy, that's really hard. we're going to take a moment of silence in just a minute, but I'd like to thank all the members of our OCPS family who served and continue to serve our nation as part of the armed forces. Today is Veterans Day and 16 million veterans nationwide include including district employees, family members of our students and an and OCPS alumni who have gone on to serve. You have made sacrifices for
003that. our students can live in a free community and nation. And we are forever grateful not only to those of you who work for or have been a member of OCPS, but for everyone here in Central Florida and across the nation. And now I will invite you to join us in a moment of silence followed by the pledge of allegiance. And now for the pledge. Algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. All right, Dr. Vasquez, before we get too far along, can you tell me if there's any changes to today's agenda? Madam Chair, there are no changes to the agenda. All right. Wonderful. Is there a motion to adopt the agenda as published?
004Motion by vice chair. Is there a second? Second by member of Annos. All in favor, please say I. I. opposed. Motion carries unanimously. And now it's time to start the part of our meeting that reminds us all of why we serve this board. And this is when we have a chance to celebrate among our staff, students, and community members some of most excellent people that work here every day. And so I'd like to first call on Superintendent Vasquez to start us off with the first recognition. Thank you. I am so excited to be able to honor principal, master principal Melanie Simmons. So, Principal Simmons, would you mind coming up? Principal Simmons has dedicated 28 years to education, all of them right here in our district, starting her career as a teacher at Catalina Elementary. Two
005years ago, she was a principal of the year finalist for our annual stellar awards, which recognizes outstanding employees. Melanie officially became a master principal in July of 2024. You ask, what is a master principal? A master principal is a principal that oversees two schools. Melanie oversees both Rock Lake Elementary and Molly Ray Elementary. At that point, she had already led the Rock Lake Beavers from a letter grade of D to an A grade. Rock Lakes Agrade rating now stands in its third year under her leadership. In her year as master principal, she's delivered historic results for both campuses, lifting the Molly Lions to an impressive A rating for the 2425 school year. The same year, Rock Lake earned a school of excellence designation from the Florida Department of Education. Let me just share with you
006what an incredible feat that is and what an incredible recognition. it is the only traditional OCPS title one school to have received that recognition. And among the state of Florida, there are only a handful of Title One schools that have achieved that recognition. And let me tell you why. Because it's so hard to achieve that rating. This honor is for schools that earn at least 80% of the possible points for the school grade calculation. This is the first time the Beavers have earned this prestigious honor. Principal Simmon leads with a resilience born of personal challenge, using her strength to drive student success. She often says she knows her schools are thriving when my teachers are giddy with delight after a new strategy works or when students get off the bus with no complaints. That focus
007on operational excellence and finding joy in instruction is her catalyst for transformation. Her background, including service as a captain in the US Army Reserve, speaks to her character and systemic thinking. Melanie, I commend you for this unprecedented success. You have created environments where every student is supported, challenged, and expected to thrive. Achieving A ratings for two schools and securing the school of excellence designation for Rock Lake, all within your first months as master principal. This is truly inspirational. Thank you for your 28 years of dedication to our children and for helping set a high bar for leadership in our district. We are so thankful to you and for the incredible team and the families that are here to support all of our children so that they can have tremendous pathways to success. Thank you. Guys,
008picture. Hey guys, picture guys. I'm sorry. That's okay. smile. Y'all come on up. Y'all come on up. Come on up. I need to go down there. That's nice. Yeah. Down there. No, I don't know. Little lopsided here. Where's Yeah, you better come down here. I That's why I told you no pushing whatsoever. I'm waiting for my assistant. Maybe that's next for you. Do I? You never know. Times are interesting. Look right here, my assistant. Big smile. Big smile again. So good. She's quiet. Look happy. Look happy again. One more. Stay there. Awesome. Can I stay here or do I have to go with this? Congratulations. no, you stay here. Frank, I feel bad because I just ruined their photo. can you photoshop this or me out of this? Oh my god. have a smile. Okay,
009good. Just Yeah, I just thought about it at the end that go this great photo and here I am blue mask. Okay, that was that was incredible. Dr. Vasquez, thank you so much for sharing that. If that doesn't make you believe, nothing does. That is so amazing. So, we just we have a couple of other schools that our master principal could take on. And I don't know, is there a limit to how many? It's two. I heard you say two. I'm thinking two or more. two. Okay. we also are celebrating some other excellent employees. Each board member may spotlight up to two employees to recognize during their designated meeting of each school year. So today, tonight is member Douglas's opportunity to come down to the podium and share with us about her honores unless she'd
010prefer to sit here and you're welcome to. Good evening everyone and thank you chair. I am so sorry. I am so sorry. I apologize. Member Felder had something. Yes. I'm sorry. Thank you so much. I wanted to say this about principal Melanie Simmons. When I first met her, when I was on the board and I got elected, there was a tragedy that hit her family with her son and I remember going out to Rock Lake and talking to her and I was, you know, I said, "I don't know how you're able to do this." She says, "But really, I can just this keeps my mind off of it." She lost her son during the height of the COVID. And I said, "Well, you know, you can take time." She says, "No, I just need to
011do this." And then as I began to track her accomplishments as a principal with the school, I said, "The resilience of this woman, I it was just I it was I couldn't fathom it." And then when it was discussed that there's a possibility that they're going to allow her to have not only Rock Lake but Molly Ray because she had moved man she moved Rock Lake and I said are you going to be able to do it? And I said, "Cuz if you can't, you know," she says, "No, I can do it." And then to see that both schools are A's. Sometimes we have to understand that our resilience as we live through tragedy is beyond our ability to push. There's a stronger force, I call him God, that propels us to do what appears
012to be the impossible. And I need to say this to you publicly, Melanie, my sorority sister and my friend, that what you've done has just beyond remarkable. And I appreciate the leadership that we have in in Dr. Maria Vasquez said, "And this board to recognize the hard work and resilience of the people in Orange County Public School District to go beyond what I may say is Veteran Day, the call of duty. I want to thank you so much and your husband standing by you and your colleagues and the people that work at your school. I want to let you know that we appreciate your work and God is always going to reward us for our services and you never despise small beginnings. Those were small schools because the scripture says in the letter end it
013will advance. It will do well. So thank you for your service to our children. Thank you. Member Felder, thank you so much for sharing that with us. Yeah. Okay. so back to you, member. Now I thank you, Chair Jacobs. I just want to say thank you so much for your service and for all that you've done. I was at Mali Ray as a teacher and thank you for the great things that you have done for our kids and please continue to do great things and just like you said, God will bless as you go. Thank you so much. Tonight I'm h I'm happy to shine a spotlight on two staff members from Olympia High School. That was my school. First, I would like to recognize an amazing teacher who does incredible things both here and
014around the world. AP environmental science teacher Gloria Bua. Miss Pa, please come forward to be recognized. Miss Bu has been an ex excellent teacher in our district for 13 years. She received a great honor this year. She was the only teacher from the state of Florida chosen to be part of the prestigious four bright teachers for global classrooms program. This award from the US Department of State enabled Miss Pu to visit Peru this summer to learn and share ideas. I know she brought back wonderful lessons to to her students at Olympia High School. But Miss Bu also gave us so much right here at our school. Using her own time, she completely redesigned three planning rooms for our teachers as her gift to the staff. As a gift to the staff, her creativity is wonderful.
015She decorated these rooms with great care and intention making the three beautiful Zoom room Zen room I'm sorry rooms. These rooms give our teacher a place to feel calm and rested and I was there and I felt that way. Okay. They helped our staff work together, think clearly and feel better. By making these spaces, Miss Bu has made a lasting positive change to Olympia High School. I know we all feel the love and dedication she has for her profession. Wonderful. Miss Bua, thank you for bringing the world to our students, your excellent teaching, and for your selfless way of uplifting the Olympia High community. I am so honored to recognize you tonight. And I'm telling you, when you go into Miss Pa's classroom, she is totally dedicated to her students. She will go from one
016student to another to a student and take the time to explain and to reiterate and to teach and to to listen to the student the needs. It's just unbelievable to see it when you get into the room. So, I just want to honor you and thank you so much for your service to our community. Thank you. I will join you. Yeah. Don't think we're going to do it again. for the mask that so fun, right? I know. Oh, yes. Oh, yeah. Okay, Frank. Frank, make it quick. There's only so long I can hold my breath. Don't Don't exhale. Don't big smile. Big smile again. And remask. Oh, she's also a veteran. So many veterans. Oh, wow. Wow. He said I hired her first. Wow. That's awesome. Yeah, let's do that. Vice chair just had before
017everybody leaves, could we get any veterans in the room to stand up so we can personally recognize you? Yes. Yes. Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you, vice chair. Wow. Next, I am so happy to recognize someone who makes a huge difference every day at Olympia High School. Our custodian, Eduina Forbes. Miss Forbes, please come forward to be recognized. Miss Forbes has worked for our district for 14 years. As an evening custodian, she has an essential job. Every night she ensures that when students and staff arrive, their classrooms are spotless, and I can attest to that. Organized and perfectly ready for the next morning's lessons. Miss Forbes knows that a clean, prepared environment helps students focus. Her high standards create a welcoming space where student and teachers feel comfortable and supported.
018They see the care and effort she puts into the building every night. But Miss Ford does more than maintain our building. She's a wonderful listener. I could complain sometime and talk about things anyway. She's a wonderful listener who offers thoughtful advice to those who seek it. She's also always ready to provide anything needed for the classroom. I know she's a big part of the positive atmosphere that makes Olympia High a great place to be. So, Miss Forbes, on behalf of the whole school board, thank you for your reliable service and your commitment to our student and staff. Your dedication ensures every day starts su starts successfully. I am so honored to recognize you tonight for being for your deep pride in your work and for being such a valued part of the Titan family. Thank
019you so much. I will join you for a picture. Where did the cookie come from? I know. I was wondering where the same who gave you Alicia. Where did the cookie come from? I know. Nancy, where's the countdown? Jo, smile. You guys real quick? No, I think I left it in the river and so she's special treatment. Wait till I get actually it's Bridget. Bridget should make sure we all get it. It always comes on to the hair. Amazing. All right. I left my member Douglas, superintendent, thank you so much for sharing those wonderful people and wonderful stories. Thank you. Okay, Dr. Vasquez, do we have any newly appointed administrators to recognize tonight? We do not, but I do want to make an introduction, please. as the board is well aware, we have been dealing
020with the issue of declining enrollment. we've been dealing with legislation that now allows collocation. I'll speak a little bit more about that during my remarks. and we have several departments that have been addressing or trying to work on addressing the issue of underenrollment from our marketing team that's working to help our schools better tell their story. our pupil enrollment that has looked at resonings to our facilities department that's looking to see you know how can we maximize all of the space that we have and so in order to bring everyone so that we have a more strategic approach I have tasked Mr. Ben Allen. Ben, would you come up front for just a minute so I could recognize you? So, Ben is part of the strategic office. He is actually the senior director in the
021strategy office and we have given him a great opportunity to expand the scope of his impact in our district and he will be helping us with efforts along the line of placebased learning. As you know, we are doing that out in Orange Center and we are looking to expand both in the Apakka and in the Englewood area. we are also looking at micro school partnerships supporting creation of magnet programs and designing strategies for space utilization that will support our strategic plan. And Ben, I just want to say thank you for taking on the challenge. we look forward to your helping us be more strategic as how we address the issue of declining enrollment and the use of our space. So I wanted to make everyone aware of how excited we are that you're taking this
022on. And before we move on, the superintendent, this woman is amazing. She doesn't just get all the best people on the bus, but she makes sure they're all sitting in the right seat. And Ben's such a great example of that. I'm trying to think it was like a year or so ago that I met him and I was just blown away. He's he's mild manner, very quiet, but you ask him something and you're just going to be blown away by how much he knows, how what a deep thinker he is, how strategic he is. I'm just like, yeah, I'm been in awe of him from the very moment I met him. And so when I heard of your decision, I'm like, man, another great decision. So anyway, it's it's about you, Ben, but it's also
023about this woman here because she is really phenomenal. thank you again. Great job. All right. we're going to move on then. I This is the point in time. We're going to hear from our students in a minute, but this is the opportunity. Those of you who have come here for celebrations, you're free to leave if you want. you're free to stay if you want. We'll be here for a little while, but this is this is your exit opportunity. So, I'm sure you guys want to do some celebrating. Thank you so much. Thank you. She's right there in the blue. Christy Goldber. Yes. All right, Dr. Vasquez, we're really excited to hear from your student advisory council members today. So, one of the things that I enjoy the most as part of the work as superintendent
024is really hearing from our various stakeholders, our teachers, our support staff, our families, our administrators and our students. And it has really been a true joy to be able to not only have the advisory groups that I have, but that we've expanded into student town halls. Our principles are at the high school level are taking on the task of meeting with the students and gathering feedback as I've now dipped down into the middle school. but what what I have found is that our students are not only very bright but they have so many great insights and when you think of everything that's going on in our world right now and times it appears like where is that silver lining where is that shining star I can tell you that the shining stars are in our
025classrooms and so it is my honor honor to ask both Ashe Nashen and Molly Hampton from Innovation High School to be able to share with you some of the incredible work that is happening at Innovation High School as it relates to the student environment, the engagement. you're going to be very impressed by these two individuals. So take it away. Can we raise that mic up a little? Better. Yeah. Yes. Okay. Much better. Thank you. Good afternoon, OCPS board members and superintendent Dr. Wazquest. My name is Aaya Nashin, senior and student body president at Innovation High School. And I'm Molly Hampton, also a senior and student body historian of Innovation High School. Before we begin, we'd like to give our highest gratitude to Mr. Davis, Mr. Marsher, Miss Morero, and the other members of Superintendent Student
026Advisory Council, Ella and Derek. We'd also like to thank you, OPS board members, for this opportunity, and for all the incredible programs you've established across our district. At Innovation, our culture is defined by success. From our girls and boys soccer teams being district champions, our girls volleyball team reaching state semi-finals last year to our 8-2 football team achieving this record in just one year. and being both eligible for the second year. Excellence is embedded in who we are. Even our academic talent shines among other schools with four PSAT NMS QT nationally recognized semi-finalist and seven commended students. Our performing and visual arts department have also made tremendous strides producing award-winning performances, showcasing artwork at the Orlando Museum of Art, presenting other artworks at the Ronald Blocker Educational Learning Center where we are right now. and
027students selected for the all state ensembles from our orchestra setting us apart in only our second year as a school. And let's not forget the unique programs established at our school including our one-of-a-kind medical assisting program in partnership with admin health and our Coastg Guard CHOTC programs. But our success goes far beyond trophies and medals. It's about the ideals we've built and live by. At Innovation, we empower students to embody excellence through perseverance, pride, and unity. These values are transformed beyond our school walls. They're seen throughout our community where we where we work with other schools and organizations in the greater Lake Dona area. Whether it's the support of the staff through initiatives such as the teacher superlatives or weekly herd member of the week award, we've cultivated a strong sense of connection, inclusion, and
028something we proudly refer to as the bull culture. You can see our bull spirit everywhere. Whether it's our horns up chant echoing through the halls, the energy of our pep rallies, or the roar of our football games, our school spirit is unmatched. Moreover, our dedicated focused connection with various student groups showcases our school's inclusivity. As you can see, some of the aspects of our school that we've mentioned are our way of life. Our schoolwide events, pep rallies, football games, ICC, Crimson Council, and planning committees. Let's take a deeper look at how all of these factors are embedded in our school. This year, we've passed out 1500 Crimson Black and White Cowbells to the fill the stands with sound and unity. And at our most recent game, we handed out custom animation rally towels. so every
029student could wave their pride for all to see. Not only that, but it's also central to highlight how every student at Innovation knows the phrase horns up. It's our slogan in the morning announcement, school news station, and every single Instagram post. Our spirit is visible not just at school, but also online like in our homecoming photo where we where we had nearly a thousand students raise their horns together. The best way to put it is the colors are our unity, the slogans is our voice, and the bull is our identity. That same connection shines in our trunk or treat event, one of the biggest community events ever hosted. With help from our orchestra, athletic teams, and over 25 clubs, we transformed our campus into a fun, welcoming space for families across Lake Nona. Students decorated
030cards, interacted with community members, and students from our local theater schools, created interactive booths that brought hundreds of people together. A true celebration of school and community. Events like these are possible through collaboration. Our inter club council ICC connects every club through monthly meetings where we discuss upcoming events and Mr. Davis's crimson council ensures that every student's voices are heard through his initiative and holding student meetings. The multicultural night planning committee is an extending is an extended example of this which unites students, teachers and administrators making large scale events like these possible. Additionally, through the creative initiative of connectivity day, we were able to further club collaboration, student connection through driving students the through giving students the opportunity to attend club activities throughout the day. However, let's shift our focus towards the future of our
031Bull's culture. Our school is one of the most unique schools in Orange County Public Schools through our outstanding academics and record-breaking achievements. More than anything, we want the forthcoming generations to remember our struggles and our successes. To strengthen our connection even further, we're launching creative a creative initiative called senior tiles. Designed for our first graduating class, this project symbolizes how students from different schools come together under one bull identity. Our plan involves coordinating with the arts department to design layouts, working with senior class officers and sponsors to manage materials and funding and scheduling tile decorating sessions where seniors can personalize their piece on the wall. Each tile will feature crimson and black designs unified under a central theme chosen by the class. Once complete, the towels will be permanently displayed in the main hallway as
032a visual legacy of our class's journey and the spirit of innovation high school. With this event, we can fully exemplify the pinnacles of our spirit, connection, and engagement. Dr. Vasquez and board members, what we have presented today goes beyond trophies and test scores. It is the story of a culture built on excellence, pride, and unity. From a record-breaking sports teams and award-winning artists to the incredible collaboration seen in our ICC and trunk or treat, Innovation High School has defined its identity. By launching the senior tiles initiative, we are not just commemorating our first graduating class. We are physic we are physically cementing this unmatched spirit into the very foundation of our school. We're ensuring that the unique, connected, and driven culture of the Bulls lives on as a permanent legacy for every future generation. Thank
033you and horns up. And we have a little gift for you guys too. If you can see, we have our little cowbells. So you want to Thank you so much. Thank you all. Great job. Great job. Excellent. Thank you all. All right, member Salmon, you're recognized. Thank you. Oh, thank you. Thank you so much, chair. thank you, superintendent, for bringing this awesome group together, although I'm biased as the representative of Innovation High School. it's so great to have you all and I got to say what this group of students have done in terms of it's a brand new high school. It is so hard to get everything up and running and Mrs. Morero, the work you do and the soul you really pour into your students and thinking about what does SGA represent from the
034ground up and what kind of student is going to bring out and build a culture and bring out the best out of all students and making them feel connected to that school spirit. I think you all have gone above and beyond. I every time I visit Asha, you are the hype man. I mean, you're it's it you represent so much of that spirit of what the Bulls are and just the entire SGA and obviously principal Davis for for encouraging the students to feel that sense of ownership in that culture of starting a new school and they're just so excited and all the initiatives and you know one of the hard things that happens over time with SJ and you know I was really involved in SJA is you start have only some students be involved
035with SJA and a certain type of of folks who want to think of what SJ looks like and all these traditions and the student body starts getting kind of lost or feel separated from SJA or like their voices are not heard. and I can say one of the superpowers that you all have from day one has been in and how do we include the voices of all of the students of Innovation High School so that experience of what it is to be an SJ student isn't just onedimensional. and you all represent that proudly every day and you exhibit it. and I am hopeful for the future classes of SJA following your legacy and the work you've done because you've really gone above and beyond for a brand new school. So, thank you all for that
036and we see you and appreciate you. Good job. Wow. member Salamanca, that was like really insightful and not just for not just for Innovation High, but I mean what you said if every school kind of recognized that because I've always like I've always sensed that it's it's them and then there's everyone and that idea of bringing everybody in is really what it should be about. So anyway, I was I just thought it was profound for her to encapsulate that. But you guys are the ones that need to run with that and figure out how do tell us how do we duplicate what do we need to do so that we can duplicate this not just for future students in your school but throughout the district. So that's a big part of being on the superintendent's
037advisory comm council you know it's it's about you tell us how we can do better. Okay so I know you know that but new task superintendent you're recognized. so one of the things that I truly am so impressed with is the relationship that you see between the teachers, the support staff and the students. It is truly a special place. And I say that because you've only been exist in existence for two years. And so to see that mutual respect, to see where the students know that there is someone there that they can go to, to see how the teachers really work to tap the diversity and the talents that are there and how there's no idea that's a bad idea. and so I just kudos to Mr. Davis because you started creating this culture to
038the students at innovation because you have taken on that work of inclusivity of making sure that your school is a special place and of course to the staff at the school that without them we would not we would not have the great the great accolades and as you said it's not just about the test scores it's so much more than that and really if we focused on the culture everything else takes takes care of itself. So thank you again. I am just so impressed with what Innovation High School has been able to achieve in such a short time of existence. Thank you, Superintendent. Thank you. I was thinking the same thing. I was like, you know, I've told the superintendent this before, but for me as mayor, my number one priority for the organization was
039to change the culture. And I came here and I'm like, oh my gosh, there's 200 cultures. I was like, that's that doesn't really work. It all every school can have its own culture, but it really does start with the principal and the leadership that comes and that spirit that comes from the principal that even either opens everything up or shuts everything down. And so, u, Principal Davis, just congratulations and, we would like to also clone you while we're at it. So, whatever you can do to help make sure that other principles around you understand the value and hopefully the great reward. I just got to think that one of the best jobs in the world is to be a high school principal. because whenever I'm at a graduation, I'm like, these folks are just revered
040and it is so cool just to see how much the kids can just come alive. My own son, my one of my sons like you're supposed to be excited when you graduate. He was devastated. He was like, I don't want to graduate. I love this. And he had a great principal as well. So anyway, thank you so much. What a good day. What a great celebration. Member Salamanca, are you back up? Okay. All right. Yes. Photo. Absolutely. Yeah. Oh, there you go. There you go. Yeah. Look at her. Oh, Madonna with the special. I know. Hold on. Not yet. Good. Stay there. Hold on. And let's demask. Thank you. Look happy. And let's ring the bell. Horns up. Horns up. Wait, how do you do it? Is this it? No. That's not the wrong one.
041Sorry. Horns up. We got it right. This way or that way? Okay. One more. No horns overbody's head. Oh, great idea. Great job you guys. That was terrific. Keep keep a hold of this and you can use that. Oh yeah. Yeah. No kidding. Yeah. They say culture eats strategy for breakfast. This eats this for breakfast. 100%. Okay. All right. At this time, I would like to acknowledge Clinton McCracken, president of the Orange County Classroom Teachers Association, to provide some remarks to the board. Welcome, Mr. McCracken. Thank you. It's good to be here. Good evening, Chair Jacobs, members of the board, and Superintendent Vasquez. More than a hundred years ago, American Education Week was created to honor lifechanging power of our public schools and to remind the public of our shared responsibility to protect them. That
042mission is more urgent than ever. As a teacher in Orange County for 25 years, I've seen what public education makes possible. I know it personally because for me, it was my ticket out of poverty. I've seen students come to school hungry and leave nurtured. I've seen teachers stay long after the final bell, helping kids believe in themselves, just like my teachers did for me. And I've seen public education remain the greatest promise of opportunity for every child, no matter their zip code or family income. That's why next week we're inviting teachers and the entire community to join us for a week of action to celebrate and advocate for our public schools. Monday is I love public ed. Wear your school colors, share why your neighborhood school matters, and show your pride. Tuesday is neighborhood school
043showcase. Share what makes your school special at tinyurl.com/pubed proudpadlet. Wednesday we have a social at all in college park for our teachers to connect and celebrate together. Thursday is wear red for public ed and Friday is speak up for public schools. Contact your lawmakers at tinyurl.com/speakupoccps25 and ask them to prioritize public ed this legislative session. Even as we celebrate though, we must be honest. Public schools are being asked to do more with less. At our recent legislative delegation meeting, I shared a few common sense steps that would strengthen public education in Orange County and across the state. First, fund our future. Florida ranks 50th in the nation in average teacher pay. An additional $1,000 per student would move us into the top 10 where our kids and our educators belong. Second, use some local tourist
044tax dollars to support local students since, of course, we're all impacted by tourism in Central Florida. A small portion could help cover transportation and safety costs in OCPS, freeing up money to pay our teachers fairly. And third, retain experienced teachers. Let districts offer extended contracts to proven teachers and restore local control over salary schedules to fix compression and reward experience. So next week, we ask everyone not just to celebrate, but to act, advocate, and demand better. And I invite each of you on the board to join us and share what makes schools in your district so special. because our schools are more than buildings. They're safe havens, places of belonging, and they lift our students up just as they did for me. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Very good. Okay. Next, I'd
045like to invite Ron Pard, president of the Orange Education Support Professional Association, and he waves and yields his time. Wonderful to have you with us as always. And next I want to acknowledge Oh boy. Karina, help me out. Shinu, thank you. Presidentelect of the Orange County Association of School Administrators, Okasa. Welcome. All right. Help me with the first name as well. Karina Chinu. Thank you. So, good evening, Chair Jacobs, school board members, Superintendent Vasquez, and Cabinet. I am Karina Chinu, president-elect for the Orange County Association of School Administrators. And tonight, as we embark on the season of Thanksgiving, I am here with a message of thanks from the over 400 members of Okasa. We are first thankful for the 239 advocates who joined us for the Walk for Freedom Central Florida last weekend and member
046Gallo for her dedication to the cause. We are especially thankful to our heroine of a leader, Dr. Vasquez, who has never forgotten what it's like to be a school administrator. We know how unique and how valuable someone like you is to a district like ours. We are thankful for the upcoming opportunity to work with Mr. Martinez in his new role as deputy superintendent. And on this Veterans Day, we extend special gratitude to the men and women who have served in the United States Armed Forces. We'd like to recognize members of Okasa who are United States veterans. Mr. Mr. Richard Sheeran, the United States Marine Corps. Mr. Damen Rosado, the United States Navy, and here tonight, Mr. Alex H Highleberg, who currently serves in the United States Army Reserves. We are so thankful for your selfless
047sacrifice and protection of our country. On behalf of all of Okasa, we would also like to take a moment of thanks to Matthew Turner. Thank you for showing us and our organization that we can have strength in numbers and that we do have a voice in the educational landscape. We are thankful for the many years that we have been able to call you our colleague and more importantly our friend. We wish you all the best in your new role and we look forward to seeing you accomplish so many great things in your bright bright future. And finally we would like to extend our most heartful thanks to our fearless leader the dark knight himself Dr. Arm Brewster. You have been an advocate for school administrators from your early days in the Justice League to being
048president of Okasa and then becoming our executive director. You have always stood by us. When you came back as deputy superintendent, you made sure you knew what it was like on our campuses because you were there. You met our people and you made them important to you as well. Our Okassa members here tonight, if you can please stand with me now. Although many of our members are back on campuses tonight with sack meetings, games, and other events, our members who could came tonight as a unified symbol of thanks and gratitude for everything you have done for our organization and for the students and staffy of Orange County Public Schools. We are here together tonight to thank you and recognize you as the Okassa Deputy Superintendent of the Year. Thank you for being our dark knight.
049If it pleases the chair, we do have a small token for Dr. Armbberster. Absolutely. Can we present it to him? Please. Okay. There's there's only one nominee. We'd like to present you this plaque for all your support for Okaso for decades. Y'all come up. Don't be shy now. Look at this. Look at that. That's awesome. Wow. Y'all dressed in black like it's a funeral. It's a celebration. Okay. And on three, I'll do a slow three. One, two, four, six, eight. just fine. Three. One, two, three. Hold on. One more. One, two, three. Thank you. Thank you. All right. That was awesome. What a nice surprise. Yeah. Oh my gosh, how fun this one. All right. we are on celebrations and observations. I just want to announce that the 2025 26 proclamations were adopted by vote
050of the board during the August 12th, 2025 board meeting as designations of celebrations and observations. The list will remain on the agenda for the entire school year. And next is a our strategic plan update. Dr. Vasquez, you're recognized. thank you, Madam Chair. I am thrilled that Jennifer Fowler is going to have the opportunity to share with all of us an update and progress on our sustainability plan. As you know, Jennifer has been at this for quite a while, and under her leadership, not only have we been able to reap savings, but more importantly, we have been able to integrate sustainability practices throughout our district. And I say this from the bottom of my heart, without your passion, we would not be where we are today. So, truly am thankful and looking forward to the presentation.
051Thank you. And I'm going to see if I can switch it over. There it goes. Okay. Good afternoon. Thank you for this opportunity to provide an update on the sustainability plan 2030. The sustainability plan 2030 was published in 2022 following stakeholder engagement which included expert advisory councils from students, OCPS staff, the community, and district family surveys. The results of the our stakeholder engagement concluded that these five targets were the most important areas of opportunity to focus on in the plan. The sustainability plan also aligns with the OCPS strategic plan objectives. Additionally, the plan has allowed for flexibility in the measures of success. This flexibility enables the district to explore new approaches and redefined success based on emerging opportunities or lessons learned. Waste reduction seeks to reduce overall waste production and diverted created waste away from
052the landfill through recycling programs, reduction education, and composting efforts. There are two primary key performance indicators guiding our waste reduction efforts. The first is focused on diverting the total waste stream away from landfills. This initiative not only maximizes the efficient use of district funds but also significantly reduces the environmental impact of our operations. In fiscal year 2025, OCPS successfully diverted 25 million pounds of materials, achieving a 34.4% diversion rate from the landfill. While this is a slight decrease of 2.5% from fiscal year 24, currently the district is at 35.8%. Some of the key initiatives include enhanced training and support for custodial staff, equipping them with the knowledge and tools to improve waste sorting and recycling, distribution of recycling supplies to schools, ensuring every site has the resources needed to participate effectively, expanded marketing and awareness
053campaigns to highlight the financial and environmental benefits of recycling across the district, and reinvestment of recycl recycling rebates directly back into our schools and staff through initiative ives like the sustainability champion awards. This cash prize recognizes both instructional and non-instructional staff who go above and beyond in fostering a culture of sustainability. Nominations are peer or supervisor-driven, reinforcing community engagement and recognition. Looking ahead, the sustainability team is focused on recalculating student enrollment relative to waste generation to optimize service levels and reduce unnecessary pickups and conducting periodic monitoring of trash and recycling dumpsters to identify opportunities for additional training and collaboration with schools. The final objective in our waste reduction strategy focuses on decreasing food waste through composting, food donation, and share tables. In June, OCPS successfully completed a two-year USDA grant aimed at reducing food waste.
054Over 570,000 pounds of food waste were diverted from landfills. This is this achievement was made by just 21 participating schools, surpassing the original program goals. The success of the composting initiative has now transitioned into a district-wide program. The original 21 schools are already exceeding last year's participation levels, demonstrating strong engagement and momentum. Water conservation seeks to conserve water usage through various techniques including water audits, leak assessments, and limiting usage during extended breaks. Our water conservation strategy focuses on two key areas. Reducing indoor water consumption and minimizing irrigation usage. While per our performance is measured in gallons per square foot, it is important to note that water usage is closely tied to building occupancy. Last school year, the sustainability office partnered with local utility providers to identify leaks early through advanced meter alert systems and gain
055access to irrigation monitoring software, allowing for faster detection of excessive water use and leaks. These partnerships have significantly improved our ability to respond to water inefficiencies across the district. This is evident by the absence of any increase of po in portable water usage in fiscal year 2024 despite the opening of new schools. along with a 10% reduction in irrigation usage over the past three fiscal years. Health and Wellness seeks to improve the overall health and wellness of our population through increased education, sustainable food options, enhanced air quality, and improved physical, social, and mental community health. Our health and wellness KPIs are centered on supporting student well-being through indoor environmental health, access to healthy foods, building student resiliency, and school gardens. School gardens are powerful tools for experiential learning, allowing students to engage in subjects like
056science, math, health, and environmental studies in hands-on outdoor setting. The sustainability office tracks and verifies garden implementation across the district. The current metric reflects a percentage of schools with active verified gardens. In collaboration with the grounds department, a school garden guide was published last school year to support schools in garden planning, implementation, and maintenance. This guide also centralizes resources for easier access and support. Curriculum resources were developed to help teachers integrate garden-based learning into their instruction and physical supplies were provided through generous donations from Home Depot and a district-wide garden supply drive. The sustainability office is working with the facilities division to update design guidelines, ensuring that garden spaces are considered during renovations and new school construction. As buildings and equipment age, this become they become less efficient and can negatively impact indoor air quality.
057This is especially important in learning environments where air quality affects student health, focus, and attendance. Upgrading and retrofitting older buildings is a proven strategy to improve indoor air quality, aligning the district goals, health, safety, and sustainability. Sustainable dining options support Florida and the US agriculture by reducing food miles and ensuring fresher produce for students. Currently 91% of all food served to students is sourced from American growers. 15% is sourced locally and 70 to 85% of FNS's produce offerings are in season. For example, items like broccoli, collards, sweet potatoes, cucumbers, green beans, and citrus are all inseason Florida produce and will be and were featured on their October menu for students. Target two includes a 10% increase in plant-based dining options for 2024. Plant-based entre emphasize foods from plants, vegetables, fruits, legumes, whole grains, nuts, seeds,
058and exclude meat, poultry, and seafood. Currently, plant-based entre account for 10 to 12% of menu offerings across all grade levels. Since 2024, OCPS FNS increased vegetarian offerings by 10% and vegan entree offerings by four to 5%. All schools have maintained 100% for plantforward meals with every entree served alongside fruits and vegetables. As part of the district's commitment to student wellness and resiliency, OCPS continues to prioritize mental health education through the state approved youth mental health first aid program. YMHFA is a nationally recognized training that equips participants with the skills to recognize the unique risk factors and warning signs of mental health challenges in adolescence. Understand the importance of early intervention. Provide appropriate support to students experiencing mental health crisis or concern. As of now, 17,365 OCPS personnel have completed the YMHFA training. This represents an
05981.61% 61% of the 21,278 personnel required by the state to complete youth mental health awareness training. The state mandates 80% completion, meaning OCPS has exceeded the requirement in both fiscal years 2025 and in 2024. Energy conservation and renewable energy seeks to decrease current energy usage and carbon emissions, employ renewable energy practices, and increase energy conservation awareness. Energy use intensity is a key metric used to evaluate a building's energy performance. It measures the amount of energy consumed per square foot per year. Understanding the managing UI is essential for improving operational efficiencies and reducing utility costs across the district. The district is actively managing building usage to reduce EUI through the following strategies. Operating hours, adjusting schedules to minimize unnecessary energy use during off hours. Occupancy levels, monitoring how many people use a space and when to
060better align energy use and actual with actual demand. Space utilization, ensuring that spaces are used efficiently to avoid energy waste in underutilized areas. Efficient space planning, designing and organizing buildings to optimize energy performance across classrooms, offices, and shared spaces. and equipment and technology upgrading to energyefficient systems and automation technologies that reduce consumption and improve building responsiveness. These long-term initiatives align with the district's broader sustainability goals, ensuring responsible and effective use of energy resources. Carbon dioxide is the most significant greenhouse gas released through human activities that contributes to the changing climate. Carbon emissions are categorized into three scopes. Scope one, direct emissions from sources owned or controlled by the organization, such as fuel used in district vehicles, boilers, and furnaces. Scope two, indirect emissions from the energy the district purchases, like electricity, heating, and cooling. These
061emissions occur offsite, but are counted because they result from our energy use. And scope three, emissions from sources not owned or directly controlled by the district, such as those from suppliers or commuting. At OCPS, our efforts to reduce environmental impact are focused on scope one and scope 2 emissions which where we have the most control and can make the greatest difference. This is the fir this is further evidenced by the reduction in overall scope one and two emissions by 7% from fiscal year 2024. The clean energy connection program allows Duke energy customers to sub to subscribe to solar energy without installing panels on their property. It's designed to make clean energy more accessible, affordable for residential and commercial customers. Key features of the program include subscription-based solar where customers subscribe to a portion of the
062solar energy generated by Duke's energy solar facilities, monthly bill credits. OCPS receives monthly credits on their electricity bill based on the amount of solar energy our share produ produ produces. No installation required, no rooftop panels or equipment is needed, and flexible participation. Customers can choose how much solar energy they want to subscribe to with the options to adjust or cancel at any time. OCPS joined the CEC program in 2022 with 104 schools that are powered by 100% renewable energy source. OCPS is committed to designing and renovating schools that prioritize environmental sustainability, health, and resilience. One example of this commitment is achieving the three green globe certification, a high performance rating that reflects buildings earning 70 to 84% of applicable points in the Green Globes assessment. This certification demonstrates the sustainability is fully integrated into building
063design and operations. Key strategies include investing in proven technologies that reduce long-term costs and environmental impact in both new construction and renovations and optimize HVAC systems by evaluating energy consumption and imple and implementing efficient solutions that improve indoor air quality and reduce emissions. Transportation seeks to improve current and future transportation options to offset their carbon footprint via the implementation of electric vehicles and school buses, EV chargers, decreased fuel usage, and increased education and awareness. OCPS is proud to produce electric school buses into our transportation fleet with electric vehicles now making up 5% of the total fleet. This milestone was made possible through the grant funding awarded by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the US Environmental Protection Agency. The initial six school buses were selected as a pilot prior to applying for the US
064EPA grant. Electric school buses offer several key benefits. They have lower operating costs due to reduced fuel and maintenance needs, are more energy efficient than traditional diesel buses, and contribute to a quieter, cleaner environment by significantly reducing noise pollution. This initiative supports our commitment to sustainability and student well-being. Currently, transportation and facilities construction are working through the USPA grant to add 20 additional buses. The school buses have been ordered and facilities construction is working on the infrastructure infrastructure at Lake Nona and Hanging Moss bus compounds. Further electric buses will be dependent on grant opportunities and driver hiring. OCPS is launching a pilot program to evaluate the use of electric vehicles within the district's white fleet. Currently, the district of currently the cost of electric vehicles is comparable to traditional internal combustion engines. This pilot will
065help determine key factors such as vehicle range and charging infrastructure requirements. It is essential that district vehicles are selected based on their ability to meet operational needs, ensuring that our operations are not forced to adapt to vehicle limitations, particularly in terms of range and reliability. As with electric white fleet, successful implementation of electric vehicles requires thoughtful planning and infrastructure development. Key considerations include vehicle range and usage patterns which help determine the appropriate type and number of chargers such as level two or DC fast chargers. The district must also assess electric electrical capacity at facilities to ensure they can support the additional load which may require upgrades. Site selection and layout are critical to ensure chargers are accessible, safe, and scalable for future growth. Additional smart charging systems can optimize energy use and reduce costs. Infrastructure
066investments must also account for installation costs, ongoing maintenance, and vendor support to ensure long-term reliability. The sustainability team has reached out to a consultant to begin discussion and assistance to provide a well-developed plan for further consideration. Reducing unnecessary idling is a strategic move that benefits our district in multiple ways. It first minimizes exposure to emissions. It lowers greenhouse gas emissions and contributes to cleaner air in our communities. Finally, saves fuel, reduces operational costs and improves energy engine performance, leading to lower maintenance expenses across the our fleet. Implementation and reinforcing anti- idling practices is a simple yet powerful way to protect student health, support sustainability goals, and optimize district resources. Thanks to the to updated EPA regulations, modern diesel engines are significantly cleaner than in the past, helping reduce harmful emissions and improving air quality. However,
067maintaining diesel buses remains complex and resource intensive. These engines contain numerous moving parts that require frequent servicing. Routine maintenance includes oil changes, transmission service, fuel system cleaning, and upkeep of emissions control systems. Additionally, diesel fuel costs are higher and more volatile than electricity. contri contributing to increased long-term operating costs. While the additional reduction of a half percent from fiscal year 24 is in part due to ongoing driver shortages, the district's commitment to investing in buses plays a role in the overall reduction of fossil fuel consumption. Sustainability education cultivates leadership skills and a sense of responsibility in students in and professionals preparing them to lead sustainability initiatives in their careers and personal lives. As part of the OCPS strategic plan, the KPI for 12th grade students to meet the portrait of a graduate. The district has
068implemented a strategy to inspire students to improve the environment, reduce district costs, and make a positive social impact in our community. A key measure of success is student participation in sustainability focused classes and initiatives. These programs equip students with the knowledge and skills to lead eco-conscious efforts both in school and beyond, fostering a generation of graduates who are not only academically prepared but also committed to environmental stewardship and community well-being. Thanks to a grant from the US Department of Energy, this school year you'll see the Sustainability in action electric van on the road. This innovative mobile classroom will bring hands-on learning directly to students through inschool field trips and enhance curriculum support of our educators. With that, I will turn the presentation over to the superintendent for comments and questions. Thank you, Jennifer. members of
069the board, as you can see, we have really made headway in so many of the areas. We still have room for growth. but you'll you see new initiatives. You'll see the expansion into the classroom and really making it part of the mindset of of our students. And so I will we are now ready to take any questions or comments from the board. All right. Wonderful. Member Vanos. I'm sorry. Member Ferrant. I don't know how I Thank you, Chair Jacobs, and thank you Miss Fowler for being here. what a wonderful evening listening to what we're doing. how OCPS is really helping our students understand sustainability. I love seeing the composting going out into the schools and seeing the kids understanding what it's about, how they can actually take that initiative and do that at home. So
070it's not just about what we're doing in the schools, but what they're learning so that they can take it back home with them, which is really fun to see. so the that as well and then the gardens is my other thing that I've been loving. watching kids get into the dirt and having it in their hands and watching them see the process, it just opens up a different you know, mindset for them. Things that I think our, you know, grandparents really had, it was like everyday life. We've gotten away from that. and the kids just go to the grocery store, they see it in the grocery store and maybe don't understand how it got there. And for them to actually be able to get into the dirt and see it and it brings all of
071that. the teachers really do a really really great job of kind of do an all-encompassing teaching in the classroom, but also going out into the garden and being able to see that happen there and the composting and the recycling. really really awesome fun to see and thank you for all that you do. My one question that I do have is on the electric buses. so I guess my question is from what I had understood it is ex takes a long time for them to charge. and I don't know if that has changed since I we originally got the buses when I first got into office, but it does take a it from what I had been told it takes a while for them to charge. and they weren't really sustainable in for us to continue
072getting more of them. is that has that changed? I don't I'm gonna have Bill Wen come up because he actually has the data of of the char what he's what we're seeing in that charge time. So I'm going to let him have that comment. Evening everyone. The charging stations we can charge as quickly as two hours. However, the charging stations for that will cost a lot more. Currently we have 60 kilowatt charging stations at our Pine Hills facility. It'll take about 3 to four hours to bring them back to 100% to go back out on the road in the afternoon. The challenge is that the range of the buses right now are at about 100 miles per charge from zero to 100%. Most of our routes are 80 to 100 miles in the morning, 80
073to 100 in the afternoon. So, in order for the electric buses to really work that drivers really have to bring them back after their morning runs, plug them in the charge before they go back out again. And we have three international buses with a third set of batteries on them which will give us about 175 to 200 mile range. So those could last the whole day. But when we look at the driver shortage and driver retention at the end of the day if we need to make an extra run or an extra trip then they may not have the charge to do that to go out to run. So that's one of the challenges we have with electric buses. The 20 that we'll get I think will fit in many of the areas where the
074routes are shorter and the drivers only want just their morning routes and afternoon routes and those will fit fine. That's where we're working on now as well. with the infrastructure we're looking at getting 180 kilowatt charging stations. So we could charge 90 kilowatts for each bus and we should be able to bring those back up within two hours. But the key is the range currently is less than 120 miles for most buses. Okay. Thank you. with that being said, how much would that cost, do you know, off the top of your head to get those 180 kilowatt stations? right now we're looking at about I think they're $90,000 per charging station and then they would have two dispensers. We could charge two buses with that. so the charging stations we did at Pine Hills at
07560 kilowatts each and was about a half a million dollars to put in. How much does a regular school bus cost? we're a the buses we're buying now we're averaging about 150,000. The current electric buses that we've just purchased at about 420,000 each. And the grant helps offsets the difference so we're able to purchase those at the same price we would be able to buy a diesel bus. And while I'm all for sustainability, I do have a lot of hesitations with electric buses because we really do have that driver shortage. and for us to be able to it looks great on paper, but for it to really work in in real time, I'm a little skeptical on that if it will work, if it is working. and so I definitely want to keep an eye
076on this and if that's even really a good use of our funds to purchase electric buses that are going to cost us more. it's not as efficient and just for us to kind of check off a box that we're doing something sustainable. preferably I would rather spend the funds buying the diesel buses that we know are sure we can get those mechanics to work on them and we have the ability to use those. they're a little more I mean in the long run I feel they're more sustainable than the other well electric buses certainly have their place and right now we're seeing about a 50% reduction in operational cost and maintenance because we no longer need to do the oil and filter changes so we save 17 quarts of oil. We don't have to worry
077about the filters. same thing with diesel exhaust fluid filters as well transmission fluid and filters. and there's a cost savings on per mile cost as well. But again, the key is the range that the buses have. I think our best direction would be to look at electrification of the white fleet for the the subcompact vehicles, the pickup trucks where the range of up to 250 300 miles and now the cost of a electric vehicle just about a couple thousand dollars more than an internal combustion engine vehicle. So I think that makes sense for us to go to next and we're looking at that for our next white fleet vehicle purchase for this coming school year. Great. would you guys be able to because I don't know if you know this off the top of your
078head, but if you'd be able to just inform the board later, how much is, let's say we need a new battery, when do those die out? And I've heard those electric batteries can be really expensive. Yes. Just kind of think like when we're really tight on budget, really wanting to make sure we're being very frugal with what we're doing. It's eight-year warranty now. So, we're year to year four, I think, with our first set of buses, and we should be good for the next ones that we'll be receiving. Of the 20, we have eight already, and the remaining will probably be with us by February of 2026. Awesome. And you don't know the price of those off the top of your head? Well, the extra set of batteries for the Internationals are running about $60
079to $80,000 just for the one set of batteries. They were at about 20 the first group that we bought. So, the prices have gone up substantially. Okay. And it's one battery per bus or well the there's two sets of batteries on a normal bus and there and the way to describe it is a giant block of little del batteries all lined up inside the bus underneath between the frame rails. And the international bus company is the only one that's offering an extra set. So instead of having two sets underneath, there's three sets underneath to give the extra range. Okay. And the 60 to 80,000 is for all of those or just the one additional section. Got it. Okay. Perfect. I'll probably email you later to get some more info, but thank you so much. I
080appreciate it. You're welcome. All right. Thank you, member Vanos. You're recognized. Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you for this presentation. You know, I think sometimes people think that sustainability work is like a nice to have, not a need to have. But I think you made such a clear and convincing case that it really is a need to have when you look at the environmental benefits and the financial benefits, the community engagement benefits which we talk about all the time and also positive recognition for our schools. So, you've done a really good job and I really also appreciate as you evaluate everything, you are using, you know, it's not just what feels good, but sort of like numbers and you have data to back it up and I really appreciate you bringing that and making
081it so clear how these decisions are being made and what's going into each of them. like member Font, I also, really love seeing the gardens at the schools. and it's such a source of pride for, especially in our elementary schools. Such a source of pride for, the teachers and the students and, and again, a great way to bring the community in because every school tells me that there's someone from the community that's coming in to help build a garden box or water something or teach students something. So, all around just so important. also wanted to, another thing I hear a lot about is from students about having more vegetarian and vegan options in the cafeteria. So, love to see that has been increased this year. and again, also, I'm guessing it's probably a cost savings
082with purchasing less meat. So, just so many so many positive all around. And the last point I just wanted to make was about the was about the grants. And I I think you've made a really strong case for how important it is to have things like the Department of Education, both at the state level and at the national level that fund these grants because some of these new programs, whether it's the composting program, whether it's the fleet, whether it's the buses, the there are things whether it's solar, some of these things we need sort of that grant money to see and to pilot different options to see what works. and when and in the long run they can provide huge cost savings for our district and huge environmental benefits. but sometimes it's that initial cost
083that is a barrier. And so that is what is so important that we have these this ability to to get grants from from again the national or state government. And so I just wanted to point that out and how it's been helpful in in creating our great composting program and helping us sort of figure out what works best with our buses as well. So, thank you for the presentation and thank you for the great work that your team is doing. Member Felder, thank you. Chair Jacobs, Miss Fowler, I'm just so excited about, what you're doing with our children, and I get invited every year to one of my schools, to have the little spaghetti dinner and the fresh tomatoes have grown. And, you know, as board member Vanos said, it's such a proud moment for
084our children. And I remember when I first, you know, got introduced to sustainability, I was kind of like what board venoms was board me was saying like, "Oh, it sounds cute and everything. What what what are you talking about?" But as I started coming every year and seeing what you're doing and what the children, what the district is doing, we need this. We do. And I'm I am concerned about the electric buses. And I don't like electric cars. I want nothing driving me. I want to drive my own stuff. I'm not with that at all. But I, you know, I am concerned about the the cost of it, but I'm also an environmentalist, a person that knows that we need to do something with this world and take take good care of our world. I
085like the education of it all. how you're starting our children at a young age to be aware of keeping the environment clean and how you were able to strategically uniquely involve our portrait of a graduate with what you were doing. I so appreciate that effort and you know money is always such an issue because I wish we could not do so much with the diesel engines but of course it does cost a lot of money to have the electric buses and because we don't have that many. you know, we're dealing kind of hard with our bus drivers and having bus drivers have to go back and repeat if they don't have enough time to charge the buses. You know, we gonna have a real problem. But I do want to just in closing say I
086want to commend you your effort and how you've involved so many of our schools. They're excited about being green schools and you know just being healthy. I like how you have tying this all into the portrait of a graduate. I think that was wonderfully uniquely done. So I I want to tell you that I appreciate that and thank you for your work. Thank you so much. Thank you member Felder. Member Douglas. Oh okay. Thank you so much. I mean the gardens of course everybody's talking about the gardens. Not only are they a source of pride, but they also allow student to experience hands-on math, science and reading, you know, expands the brain in different ways and absolutely love that. And sustainability helps student appreciate our earth, you know, and take care of it. All right.
087and the important is taking care of what we have and I think the student grasps that idea that the earth is important and we need to take good care of it and I really wish that all schools have a garden. I think I think we need this. First of all, it's relaxing for the kids to have their hands in a in a dirt. It's just a source of relaxation, you know, and and they need that for mental health and I really wish that we really, you know, all the school get eventually a garden where the student can just let go is our goal. Thank you. So, yes, I agree with you. What whatever I can do to help, let us know. Thank you so much. Thank you, Member Douglas. member Bird. Thank you and thank
088you Miss Fowler. It was great information. I love I too love all the data that you have. I think it I agree with member Vanos. It's, you know, sometimes people can get caught up in it just being, you know, you know, for looks or, you know, it just sounds good, but it really is doing good. And it's in many of these things are really saving us money as well. And I appreciate so many things. First of all, I was blown away by the that we have 104 schools that are powered by 100% renewable energy. That is amazing. great job. I mean, that is so I'm so glad that we're taking advantage of that program with Duke to be able to use their that solar energy without having to necessarily put solar panels everywhere. so I
089love that. I we need to like blast that out and let everybody know because I think we should be really proud of that. we talked you talked about the share tables at the school. Well, we had a conversation at some point here recently when we were talking about you know helping our families that are facing food insecurity now especially and one of the challenges with the share tables is refrigeration with you know they can't keep I think certain foods out or they need to have like a place to put the food or it gets thrown out. I mean that's like the biggest thing. Is that something that we are looking at or is that being talked about at all about providing a refrigeration area for share table food? Yes, I'm I'm very lucky that I
090have the support of my peers here tonight for for some of these more specific questions because I think they are the experts. So, I have Mark Watson with Food Nutrition. I think he can provide some details on that. Thank you. Good evening. we are looking into getting grants to help out with the share tables. at this moment we don't have them at every school. but we do have it at some schools. we did purchase some small refrigerators that at the moment are not keeping temperature according to the department of health. So, we are looking into some more industrial commercialsized refrigerators for the schools and we are looking into grants for that. Do we have just off the top of your head, do you have like an estimation, a cost estimate for what one of those
091might cost? well, a commercial refrigerator cost about $4,000. it just depends on what size you get. and we can get some probably for like $2,000 a piece. So, it just depends on the size and the the capacity of what we want to hold it at. it most share tables, it just depends on the schools. if you have some of the more needy schools, the share table don't get doesn't get a lot of volume on the share tables. so we don't need a larger refrigerator for those. So, it just depends on the schools. Okay. wonderful. Well, I'd love I'm thinking for myself personally, I'd love to try to help out with that if with discretionary funding. I think that would be a I'm I'm really concerned about families that need food right now. And so any
092way that we can save as much of that food even even though I love the composting I really do, but if we can save as much of the food as we can and give it to families that need it, I'm all for that. So we are looking into at this moment the US the USDA does not allow food to leave the school and go to families. but we are we are in touch with the Florida Department of Agriculture to get a waiver for that so we can start collecting that food and letting the school give it out to the families. Wonderful. Yay. All right. That's great. That makes my heart happy. Thank you so much for that. the school gardens, I too love it. I'm a big gardener, so I appreciate my time every day
093with my flowers and plants. So, I am a big believer in the whole relaxation part of that. U, it's good for mental health for sure. who funds the gardens at the school? Do they get grants? Do most of the schools get grants for that? Does that come out of school internal funds? It's probably a combination of both. So the sustainability office has small mini startup opportunities that schools can apply to to help them kick off or to clean up a garden. they there are also grants through the foundation that they may apply for and then they may go for their own grants and then there may be school-based support. So, I think it's a combo that you'd probably see it across the board. Okay. Wonderful. And then my last question is for Bill again, and
094he can just give a yes or no, but are there any hybrid Oh, you're right there. Any hybrid school buses? Well, there are different alternative fuel buses there. Propane buses. There also gasoline is now coming back as a new alternative fuel and diesel, but I don't believe there any hybrid buses that are out there. Okay. Just curious. yeah. And I get it. There's there's costs, but there is a lot of cost savings. I think people sometimes really don't think about with electrics that you don't have the combust combustible engine. You don't have all those things you have to fix and replace like you do with the regular ones. So, I appreciate you bringing that point forward. that's it for me. I'm good. Thank you. All right. Thank you. I just one follow-up question. Don't I
095think we have a number of people in the community that volunteer to help supply plants and gardening products, soil, etc. for our Am I correct or Yes, we did. And then and when we did our garden supply drive, we had community members OCPS staff do donations for our seed bank for seeds that we were able to distribute to schools. but Home Depot also is very one of the locations was very generous and provided us with plants and supplies to s to provide to schools too. So yeah, and some of those smaller, more localized companies. and I hear from them and it's kind of neat cuz they come away feeling so good that they're helping out. So, that's neat. Yeah. Yeah. And we do we've had some of our green schools have partnered with local nurseries
096who have also helped them. Yeah. Yeah. Wonderful. Okay. Well, and that partnership, you know, I don't know, the more we can build relationships in this community to support our schools, it just makes us stronger. It's funny how sometimes you ask somebody for something and you're surprised to know how glad they are to be asked, right? So, it's a positive part of human nature. Well, great job. I think we're all just blown away by your presentation and you know, for a board who has really wanted to see us thrive in this area. You have certainly, you know, come through and exceeded expectations. So, great job. Thank you. Okay. let me ask real quickly before we move on to you're good. before we move on to our public hearings. Do we have any speakers on any of
097our hearings? Okay. Then we can move forward to public hearing 3.01, request for approval of a revised board policy, ECA, building and ground security. Dr. Vasquez, you're recognized. Thank you, Madam Chair. this is the first of two policies. the board has had a work session on policy ECA on the 14th of October. We made notification to both the classroom teachers association and OESPA on the 1st of October. notice went on the 5th of October and we are seeking approval for the revisions to the policy at today's board meeting. All right. Thank you. We have no members of the public that want to comment on the policy. It doesn't appear that we have any board members with questions or comments. That being the case, I'll enter I'll open the floor for a motion. Motion by member
098Salamanca. Second by member Douglas. All in favor, please say I. I. Opposed. Motion carries unanimously. Well, with all members present, voting in the affirmative. And that takes us to I think we have I'm sorry. I think we have a 3.02, don't we? Thank you. Thank you. Takes us to 3.02 and request approval of revised board policy. I am IHAM, local school wellness. Dr. Vasquez, you're recognized. thank you, Madam Chair. the board held a work session to look at revision revisions to the policy on the 14th of October. We made notification to both OS and CTA on the 1st. We published notice on the 5th of October and we are seeking approval to the revisions to the policy at today's board meeting. All right. Thank you. Again, no members of the public and it doesn't appear
099that any board members have questions or comments. So I will entertain a motion. Motion by member Fant. Is there a second? Second by vice chair. All in favor, please say I. Oppose. Motion carries with all members present voting in the affirmative. And next, we're on the consent agenda. Again, we have no public comments. we have no board comments. That being the case, I will open the floor for a motion on the consent agenda. Pardon me. Okay, we have a motion from member Vanos. Do we have a second? Second by member Felder. All in favor, please say I. I. Opposed? Motion carries with all members present voting in the affirmative. All right. Now, we're on to 1701, school board re reorganization and election of school board vice chair. I'll open the floor for a motion in
100just a minute, but just a couple of reminders. one motion nominations do not require a second and I would ask that board members that wish to make a nomination if you would use the button. I'll identify you at this point. So the motion the floor is now open. Member Fant you're recognized. Thank you Madam Chair. I would like to nominate my fellow board member Maria Salamanca. Okay. Are there any further nominations? Member Felder, you're recognized. Yes, I'd like to nominate myself, Vicki Elaine Felder. Okay. we have two nominations and let me ask the formality. U member Salamanca, would you accept the nomination? Yes, I would be honored to. Thanks. Okay. And member Felder, I think the answer would be yes, obviously. Okay. by Robert's rules, we'll take the vote in the order that the nominees
101were listed. All in favor of member Salamanca, please say I. I. I. I. So, we have three four members in favor of member Salamanca. All in favor of member Felder, please say I. I. two members. Member Thanos, I'm sorry. Okay. All right. So, the vote goes to member Salamanca. All right. We are on to 1702. Request approval of officers to the leasing corporation. Excuse me. I'm recessing the regular meeting of the Orange County School Board and calling to order the meeting of the Orange County School Board Leasing Corporation. The first action item is requesting approval of the minutes of the Orange County School Board Leasing Corporation dated November 19th, 2024. I'll ask for a motion to approve the minutes of the Orange County School Board Leasing Corporation dated November 19th, 2024. Is there a motion?
102I'm sorry. Sorry. I'm sorry. I got this far with no coughing. Okay. We had a motion by me by vice. Yeah, you have to move. Member Bird. I'll second it. And seconded by member Fat. All in favor, please say I. I. Opposed. Motion carries with all members present voting in the affirmative. Vice Chair. Come on. Do it. Just right here. It's right here. make sure you clean it. 7 right here. Okay. That's right. Right. Mr. Palmerini, do we have anyone who has come to speak to the school board on 17.03? So, madame chair, we just approved the minutes. We now have to elect the officers for the leasing corporation. I was misguided by previous vice chair. Okay. Yeah. So, according to the what we need to do is that we need a motion to accept
103the recommended slate of officers. and it's listed in the agenda item 17.02. All right. So then we would have to a motion to approve the minutes of the Orange County School Board the Incorporation. We just did that. So we need to move the proposed slate of officers and for the benefit of the board members of proposed slate of officers is the president of the lease incorporation would be the chair Theresa Jacobs. The vice president would be the vice chairman from the school board agenda item 1701. That would be yourself. the secretary would be Dr. Vasquez and the treasurer will be Dorian Conalino. Are we ready for a motion? motion to accept the recommend recommended slate of officers or a recommendation for another slate. Do we have a motion? So moved. All right. A motion for
104the current the recommended slate of officers is on the table. Is there a second? A second. Second by member Vanos. All in favor, please say I. I. Opposed. Motion carries unanimously. Next is a request to approval a request approval to rename the Orange Technical College West Campus Event Center to the Dr. Michael D. Aron Brewster Center for Collaboration. Ma, Madam Chair, I hate to be the formal guy here, but we have to adjourn the meeting of the leasing corporation and come back into I'm sorry. Yes, of course we do. I was wondering why this was under that. honestly, I was like this. So, I will now adjourn the meeting of the leasing company and reconvene the meeting of the Orange County School Board. Thank you. And now I will request approval to rename the Orange
105Technical College West Campus Event Center to the Dr. Michael D. Arburster Center for Collaboration. I have a motion from member Vanos, seconded by member Douglas. What did I What did I say? But it's okay. Okay. I'm sorry. Motion by member Ferrant, seconded by member Douglas. All in favor, please say I. I. Oppose. Motion carries unanimously. I'm just trying to get through with this. Okay. Thank you. Oh god. I'm sorry. Okay, I'll just you know what the previous vice chair can fill in. superintendent. thank you madam vice chair. so I have a couple of announcements. First, I we all know that many of our families are struggling because of the SNAP benefits being paused. but I am not have not been given permission to give the name of the organization, but I do want to share
106with the board that we have an incredible partner that is going to be donating over two 214 200,000 from one partner and 14,000 from two other partners to help fill our food pantries. And so you'll we'll be able to have the official announcement soon, but again, we are so thankful that we live in a community that wraps their arms around our children and our families. I also wanted to remind our families that and our employees that the start time survey is out there. It's open. and it closes November 21st. For those that may not be familiar, we are taking input as to whether we want to change our school start times. The information is on our website. we really do want to hear from you and how you feel about changing start times. started the
107day today with some unexpected mail. we received letters asking for over 50 of our schools to be sites where they would colllocate with charters. thanks to our incredible team. I do want to give credit to Greg Moody, Kia Scott, Ben, who have been working feverishly to be able to identify which of those schools truly are eligible based on the vague legislation that we have before us. And so I'm happy to report that we believe the most is nine, but we believe it's closer to five. One of the schools is not a title one school. two of the others have been misidentified. we are planning to have a work session with the board on really schools of hope collocation so that you have a better understanding. But for now what what we need our community to
108understand is that the ability to colllocate is creating a number of challenges for our schools. And what that means that a authorized operator of which there are less than 10 at the state can request to take over and educate children who are either in persistently low performing schools or in the opportunity zone. and so we are working through the request and we'll be responding. We will obviously keep the board ab breast. but it is definitely something that is very concerning. We need more clarity on what is allowed currently as you're reading the legislation. the entity can come and locate in the same facility as another school. we would be responsible for paying custodial services, food and nutrition services, transportation services. And so if you could just imagine two schools operating, you know, on one campus,
109and we understand that there may be some clarification that comes to the language of the next legislative session. We certainly are hopeful that we are able to do that. additionally, as part of our ongoing conversations around declining enrollment, our teams have been studying various solutions to, how, excuse me, studying various solutions as to how we maximize the use of our facilities. I spoke earlier, we're looking at micro schools, we're looking at targeted resonings. unfortunately, one of the things that we do need to look at is school redistricting. we are starting to have meetings. the first one is tomorrow at Union Park Middle School at 6:00. then the following week we will have on the 18th a meeting at Bonavville and Or Vista. On the 19th we'll be meeting at Chickasaw and Eccleston. And on November
11020th we will be meeting at McCoy and Meadowwoods Elementary School. no decision has been made. This first initial meeting is for us to go out into the community and basically share what the facts are. the trending declining enrollment. the cost of maintaining schools that have not met cert certain targets. and we've come to the point where we are no longer able to subsidize all of the programs at the schools with such low enrollment. And so we will have a conversation with the community. We'll take their questions. We'll come back analyze all of that information and then we will be going back out into those communities to have further conversations about that. I'm excited that tomorrow I'm hosting my very first teacher of the year advisory committee for this school year. our topic is AI. you
111are more than welcome to come. will be here beginning at 8:30. Our CIO Maurice Straan is going has put together an incredible presentation and really the point is for us to gather input from our teachers about their use, student use, what are their concerns, what are things, have they have they tried to use it, what are some of the successes that they have? and then we'll be able to use that to further our conversation and guide our policy and our work in that area. that is the end of my report for tonight. Thank you, Superintendent. And just I'm just going to follow up real fast before I call on Mr. Palm Marini. And I just want to remind the public that the legislature is in you know interim committee weeks. They're happening now. They're preparing
112for the legislative session coming up in January. This is when they're already putting laws together. They're writing language. This is the time for the public to reach out to your lawmakers. If anything that the superintendent just shared concerns you, now is the time. don't wait because they're already working on what they're going to legislate in January. So, I encourage the public to share concerns, reach out, tell your stories, tell how you how this will affect you. And the people in the public are the ones that can make the change, not us. They don't really care necessarily what our opinion is to be quite honest. But when parents show up and when voters show up and community members show up in Tallahassee and knock on their door and or write letters and tell them what they're
113feeling, they listen most of the time. So, I encourage you to do that. yes I'm sorry I forgot really the mo not the most important but you know one of the positive since there's not a lot of great news today you know that we engaged with Kesa K12 they worked on a campaign to recruit former families to our schools and so I'm going to say that I was a little skeptical you know the benefit was that we would only be paying paying a portion of the FTE we would generate if the students registered and if they stayed for 30 days. And so I'm excited to report that they recruited or recovered 1,932 families. the projected FTE is 13 million649,580 and our payment our projected payment to Kesa is 1,86,000. and so a net gain of
114a little bit over $11 million. And so we are excited that we were able to re recruit these families. were getting the results of our, you know, survey 2 and sadly the numbers there are were down and so I'm glad that we were able to recoup these families so that our deficit is not as high and we'll have our final numbers I believe for our next board meeting so the board will be able to see where we landed as far as projected versus actual FTE. Oh, sure. Absolutely. So they recovered 1,932 students and our potential FTE u to be gained from those are 13,649,580 and our payment to Kesa is $1,86,420. So, I definitely think that was a good return on our investment. Thank you, Superintendent. member Vanos, you want to wait till that? Okay.
115general counsel, your report. thank you, Madam Chair, members of the board. last, Friday and Saturday, we were, myself, Sergio Ruiz, and, Sarah Capesky in my office went over to the fall conference in the Florida School Board Attorneys Association. we sat through a lot of great presentations, one of which involved schools of hope which came in very very handy today when we got those letters and having to deal with it. So that was also my last meeting after two years of being president of that organization. So I am very glad to give that duty over to somebody else. But it was very useful meeting and with respect to some other matters we're we're working through on Eatenville. We are in contact with Dr. Phillips. We're having conversations. We're moving that forward. as you all know, we're
116going to have a work session on December the 1st. we fully intend on having the contract completed ready to by then. our intention is to have it completed and to you all before even the work session so you can look through it's a standard purchase and sale contract you know with some different terms in it but you know we're going to have it to you so you have time to review it as you'll certainly have questions at the December 1st work session I anticipate that there will be questions coming out of it and I anticipate folks from the town council and the town of Edenville will be here at that December 1st work session to also give their views on it as well. But just wanted to let you know I will try to do
117it before the week of Thanksgiving, but you know that always doesn't happen. But be on the lookout for it. And that's it. Thank you, Mr. Pomearini. school board. Do we have any reports by committees? I don't believe we do. All right. statement of Okay. Policy. Are there any policy level issues board members would like to talk about or any other comments? We have member Vanos. Thank you, Madam Vice Chair. I really appreciate the update on the Quesa, recruiting and, you know, to me, it's not just about getting the money. you know for a district is important, but I think the most important thing was that we had people out in the community talking to parents and to families and to students to really understand why they weren't attending their school and correcting I think some
118misperceptions and also getting out the really positive things that are happening in their neighborhood school. and I think just that in and of itself is important because those people will now talk to their neighbors and it kind of spreads from there. So, I'm I'm I'm really glad that we decided to try something new and I feel like it was well worth it. So, thank you for the update. the other the only question I had was with respect to schools of hope and I just want to clarify that the school the hope operator can operate in a school that is not a low performing school. Right. And I know that Ben is here so if I misspe please let me know or our general counsel. So the school operator can operate a school outside of the
119opportunity zone within 5 miles if there are not sufficient seats within that opportunity zone. So for example, let's say they one of our persistently performing little school is school X and they want to serve students from that school and that school has 100 empty seats. the operator can say, "No, we want to open a school with 400 seats." And because there aren't any schools within that opportunity zone that have that many vacant seats, then they can step outside that, but it's got to be the nearest closest school. I got here's the language. It's from Florida Administrative Code Rule 6A-1.0998271. 0998271. A school of hope may be located outside of a Florida opportunity zone or a persistently low performing school attendance zone in the nearest suitable underused, vacant, or surplus facility if the district does not
120have such a facility available for the hope operator to use within a Florida opportunity zone or a persistently low performing school attendance zone. Okay. So if a school is available, the hope operator has to go there. If there's not, then my understanding of the law is that they could simply say this option is unsuitable for us. Do we does the rule define what unsuitable means? Why of course not. That's so interesting. Yeah. it there is and this is one of the things that we discussed at our schoolboard attorney's conference is there is a lot of ambiguity in the rule. There's a lot of stuff that if you read it you know strictly then it could cause some issues. So it doesn't define nearest suitable underused vacant or surplus facility. They would just use the dictionary
121definition of what suitable would mean. Mhm. So it really could the hope operators colllocating in a school could under this rule could really expand far beyond could really expand really throughout our county. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. I am really happy superintendent that you shared about Kesa. I was actually that was on my list of things I wanted to ask about that and just kind of see how that was going and it's been a little while. while I am excited that we've recovered funds, I do think that we could use funds ourselves to create our own group within OCPS to be the marketing team, which if I know you well, you've probably already been thinking of that and scheming behind the scenes of some amazing group. and so that is something that I
122would love to see where we are really working with our schools on their videos. for instance, Lake Buav Vista, I'll use them as a great example. Lake Buav Vista High School, this year they have stepped up their game on social media. Every time I get on Instagram, they're showing some amazing video. I mean, I Everybody wants to go to this school because it is fun. They make it exciting. They're showing, they showcase everything. So, it's not just about one group of kids, but they're showcasing everything. and so I think if we were having that in every one of our schools, we had the social media was on point. We've got, which is where I think all the parents are and the students alike. but you know, really having kind of that group. So, if we
123could take this funding and instead of spending it on a quesa group, but actually funding our own little group, which I don't know that we would need to spend like that kind of money every year, but really kind of honing in on that. I would love to see that. because really we do have a lot to offer. There's a lot of great things going on. but if we don't market it well, we parents aren't aware. and then the other thing I wanted to say was I was at Stonewick elementary school this morning as my favorite thing to go to as a board member is their Veterans Day program. They do such a phenomenal job and the kids have just the most amazing voices and I just love it. They honor the veterans so well. And
124so I just wanted to give a shout out to all of our veterans, everyone who has served and is serving currently. our freedom is not free and so thank you so much for what you have done and are doing to help our nation be amazing America. Thank you member Fer member Bird. Thank you chair. real quick general counsel I just have a quick follow-up question. I know we're going to have a work session on the schools of hope but it just struck me and I don't want to forget it. How do how does a charter school operator become a school of hope operator? What do they have to do? So there is criteria. I'm sorry. Let me get near there. There's criteria that is in the law and in the statute. A hope operator means
125an entity that has been designated by the state board of educator education as a hope operator pursuant to the statute. And under the statute, they have to hold on. I want to make sure I do this correctly. Give me one second. I'm surprised you don't just have it up there like ready to go like you usually do. Well, you know what? I was thinking we were landing and Sorry, you should know better by now. Wheels up. I should. So, a hope operator means an entity identified by the department pursuant to subsection two. And subsection 2 is here. Hold on. a nonprofit organization with taxexempt status under 501c3 of the Internal Revenue Code that operates three or more charter schools that serve students in grades K through 12 in Florida or other states with a record
126of serving students from lowincome families and is designated by the state board of education as a hope operator based upon a determination that the past performance of the hope operator ex meets or exceeds the following criteria. The achievement of enrolled students exceeds the district and state averages of the states in which the operator schools operate. The average college attendance rate at all schools currently operated by the operator exceeds 80% if such data is available. The percentage of free students eligible for a free and reduced price lunch under the National School Lunch Act enrolled at all schools currently operated by the operator exceeds 70%. The operator is in good standing with the authorizer in each state in which it operates. The audited financial statements of the operator are free of material misstatements and going and ongoing
127concern issues and other outcome measures as determined by the state board of education. That's sort of a catchall in on the back end, but it's supposed to have a record of serving low-income students. I believe we currently have six or seven and I believe one more is going to be on the next state board of education agenda and I believe it's Somerset, but don't hold me to that. That's correct. Thank you. Okay. Thank you for that information. All right. Anything else for the board? All right. Meetings adjourned. Thank you. I feel better. Thank you. Make you a big cut. You can see all the Oh, he's sick. Yeah. Heat. Heat. Heat.